THE ETERNAL

CHAPTER IV - THE CITY, THE CROWN, AND THE SNAKE

"The jewel of the coast, the capital of the Empire was founded on the spot of a great battle, around a sacred crystal that now forms the centerpiece of the church of fire. The city is also home to the imperial family and the seat of power for the Empire." - Tourism pamphlet

We finally reached the city, large wooden gates decorated with extensive murals of times long past, reinforced with sturdy steel braces and covered by a heavy steel portcullis guarded the way inside through thick stone walls, taller than anything I've ever witnessed. The gatehouse was an imposing structure, that looked almost carved out of a single block of massive stone. Two large figures carved into the stone, guarded the gates on both sides, with text above each of their heads, reading Virtius on the right and Sapientia on the left. And above the gate itself, written in large letters, Aeternitas. I remembered reading about this in one of my books, The Eternal Gate, guarded by the founders of the empire and the capital city itself, emperor Virtius and Empress Sapientia. It was a marvelous remarkable sight, but the image grayed as soon as I noticed the long line of people that was gathered all along the road near to the gates. Refugees from other cities and towns ruined by the tremors, surely. They were stopped at the gates by soldiers wearing the crown's sigil over their chests. As we approached, we noticed a large man in shiny heavy plate armor, standing behind a cordon of guards and speaking with a man dressed in expensive attire.

"He is the man to speak to!" I said to myself. I gestured my companions forward but as soon as we approached the wall of guards we were stopped like the rest of the people.

"Halt!" yelled one guard. "The city is closed to refugees and beggars! By order of her majesty, the empress!"

"We are not refugees!" I said. "We have to get inside; my parents are waiting for me here!" I pointed to the gates while pleading with the man.

"The empress herself could be waiting, without a pass you are not getting in! Now move on!"

As we argued with the guard, the knight and nobleman left and entered the city. I was worried I would lose my only chance to get to the castle, we tried everything, even bribing, but the guard would not budge. We retreated to a makeshift drinking hole on the side of the road, close to the gate, and chose a table to think of a new strategy.

"What are we going to do?" Marius asked, resting his head in his palms. "There is no way to sneak inside and too many guards to fight!"

"Can we get a pass somewhere?" I asked but without expecting an answer.

Alesandra was deep in thought; she was not paying any attention to what we were saying. She looked around at the poor people, devoid of any hope of ever entering the city. "I may have a plan!" she said. "All these desperate people, they all want to get inside. Why not encourage them to grab their fate into their own hands and push back against the guards? This will be our way in! While the guards are distracted by the masses we slip in unnoticed. Maybe some of these poor fools will manage to get in also."

I couldn't help but feel pity for the people, some of them may be injured in the commotion, but this could be our only chance to get in without having to fight the whole city guard. I looked over to Marius then quickly back at Alesandra "We have no other choice. What do you propose we do?"

"Let us go and speak with the people, we will start with the barkeep there and move on to other people who look influential. We will have to convince people to gather before the gates and start a riot. By the look of everyone, this should not be too difficult, they look like they got nothing to lose anyway."

I looked over to the bar and there, behind wooden mugs and muddy crates stood Gregor, the innkeeper from when I was attacked by bandits, the owner of the inn I burned down when I first discovered my powers. I pushed my chair aside and quickly moved to the bar.